BASKETBALL – Bahrain representatives Riffa are set to compete in the Jakarta Challenger 2025, which tips off today in the Indonesian capital.
The meeting is part of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour and it acts as a qualifier for the higher-tier Lausanne Masters, scheduled to take place next month in Switzerland.
Riffa are set to take to the half-court with a quartet that includes Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, Vic Van Oosterwyck, and Andrej Cuyvers.
They are in Pool B of the competition’s preliminary round alongside Barcelona of Spain and South Jakarta Inaspro of Indonesia.
Pool A features Miami from the US, Lugano from Switzerland, and Jakarta Mandiri of Indonesia; Pool C is composed of Chongming of China, Marijampole Mantinga of Lithuania, and a team from the qualifying draw; and Pool D comprises Hangzhou of China, Utrecht of the Netherlands, and a second team from qualification.
Six teams are in the two-group qualifier. Group A features Taipei WanBao from Chinese Taipei, Batavia Mandiri of Indonesia, and Siliguri IB3L of India, while Group B comprises Mataro of Spain, Bucharest Stiinta of Romania, and Manila Melmac of the Philippines.
Riffa begin their campaign against South Jakarta Inaspro at 11.45am, and then take on Barcelona at 1.25pm, both Bahrain time.
After a single round-robin, only the top two teams from each pool move on to the knockout stages tomorrow, which kick off with the quarter-finals. The semis and the final are to be held later the same day.
The tournament’s champions are set to come away with $20,000 in prize money. The runners-up will pocket $15,000, the third-placers $11,000, while the team ranked fourth overall will win $8,000 and fifth $6,000.
This weekend’s meeting is one of 20 Challenger events on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025.
Masters competitions have already taken place in Japan, China, the Netherlands, France, Austria, and Mongolia, and Hong Kong, with others set to be held in Canada, Switzerland, Hungary, China, Macau, and the UAE before heading to Bahrain for the Fiba 3x3 World Tour 2025 finale, scheduled for November 21 and 22.
The kingdom currently has two teams competing in the premier street basketball series, under the banner of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba). Seef are the other.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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